Monthly Archives: March 2011

March 18, 2011 · 12:13 pm

Another Season of Nightmares

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 02: Celebrity...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Finally Friday, and given yesterday’s exacta ticket of St. Patrick’s Day and the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament, I’m sure there are more than a few hangovers out there. I’ll try not to use many big words, OK?
Foodie Fridays now feature one of my favorite shows, Kitchen Nightmares. If you’ve never watched it, I think it’s worth checking out, especially since it’s really a business show. The premise is that Chef Gordon Ramsey steps in to save failing restaurants, and in most cases the sub-par food is only a fraction of the problem. Kind of like your office, right? Continue reading →

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March 17, 2011 · 12:00 pm

Rope-A-Dope Marketing Won’t Work

I’m sure there are more than a few of you out there who remember the “Rumble In The Jungle” in which Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman.  It was one of the great matches and there’s a fantastic documentary about it you should watch if you want to see The Greatest in his last great bout (and at the peak of his promotional abilities!).

It was in this fight that Ali introduced the Rope-a-Dope –  strategy in which you hang on the ropes and let the opponent punch himself out so you can fight back to decreased resistance.  Of course, there’s a good chance you’ll make a defensive mistake and get knocked out yourself before that happens, so it’s highly risky.  Naturally, this was the first thing that came to mind the other day when I saw the results of a new marketing research study. Continue reading →

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March 16, 2011 · 8:56 am

Great Managers Don’t Have Jobs

Mr Burns

Image by billypalooza via Flickr

I was thinking last night about some of the great, obvious questions your kids ask when they’re little.  The Mrs. and I were blessed with two very inquiring little minds to play that role.  Even though it was quite a while ago that they were asking, one question stand out in my mind and I thought I’d share it with you today since the response says a fair amount about how I see the management world.

One of my daughters – and I don’t remember which one – asked “Daddy, what do you do?”  Simple, right?  But like most great questions, it prompted an answer that’s anything but simple. Continue reading →

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